Momentum
by tazzydan
Summary: Evangelia has been on the run alone for so long that she's forgotten how to talk to people. She might have saved some of their lives, by chance, but in the long term, maybe they saved hers. She thinks that having people gets you killed. But they teach her that having people brings you to life.


_My name is Evangelia. I was away at college in Texas when the world ended, with my family back home in Atlanta. I tried to make it back to them. I tried to find them, but all I can do now is hope that they made it. To where, I don't know. I've been on the run for so long now that I've almost forgotten how to speak, except for one syllable words like "shit", and "fuck" and "balls" whenever something in this shithole world we live in finds some new way to make my life suck further._

_I had people for a while, at the beginning, and I've had people occasionally since, but for the most part I've found that people cannot be trusted. They will always put themselves and their friends before newcomers, and that's okay. But it means that I haven't felt important to anyone in a very, very long time._

* * *

With a smash, the skylight fell through, bits of glass shattering around my muddy, bloodied black steel-caps. I watched for a few minutes to see if any fleshers appeared below. They usually came running if anyone made any noise, hoping to get a feed. When none appeared, I shook my head.

"Fuck." I swore, running my hand through my matted long hair. It had been a weird bun thing for so long that it was starting to look like one big dreadlock. If no fleshers were in there, it meant it was highly likely that someone had beaten to this apartment block and taken anything worth hanging on to, but I was running out of options. I hadn't eaten anything but canned fruit in around a week and it just wasn't cutting it. Plus, I was down to my last tin and only the pretend cherries were left. Fuck I hate pretend cherries.

I placed my leather-gloved hands over the glassy shreds of skylight edges and jumped down into the room below. If the world hadn't have ended, it would've been a fairly nice apartment. Modern style, with lots of fish tanks. But the world had ended, and the fish were long eaten, probably by desperate fleshers, their blood having stained the water a strange purple color.

I looked around, scanning the room for anything that looked useful and listening for anything that sounded like a hungry flesher. A fridge stood over in the kitchen, with the door ajar.

"Well, shit." I muttered to myself. I looked above at the cupboards above the fridge and hoped to God there was some canned stuff in there. I rounded the corner into the kitchen area and started opening the cupboards. Empty. But then I looked down at the lower ones on the floor and screwed up my nose. A torn off hand was hanging from the handle of the last cupboard on the left. I strode over to it, flicked it off with my sword and opened it. Inside was a stash of a few cans. Creamed corn, some syrup, more fruit and some ham pieces.

"That'll have ta do." I said and slid them all off the shelf into my khaki knapsack. Suddenly I heard a loud smash from an adjacent apartment. "Time ta go." I muttered to myself again and sprinted back to the skylight. I pushed a couch over to underneath it and climbed on top, grabbed the glass-shredded edges and heaved myself up through the skylight, kicking over the couch as I went to prevent any followers.

I heard the door of the apartment open, just seconds after my feet were planted safely on the roof and looked back down expecting to see fleshers piling up below. But instead I saw a panic-stricken boy looking up at me.

"Oh fuck." I said, rolled my eyes and reached down to him. "Grab ma hand!" I shouted, stretching my fingers as far down as I could. I could hear flesher groans getting closer and his face looked more and more panicked. He reached up as high as he could. I lay down on the roof to stretch as close as possible. "Jump and grab me!" I shouted. He did and I clasped his forearm as he clasped mine. I slowly kneeled and pulled him up through the gap just before the fleshers made it into my view in the living room below.

"Thanks!" He said, standing up and brushing himself off. He looked about 14 or so, far too young to be on his own. I grabbed my sword out and held it out to him.

"Were you bit?" I demanded. He shook his head.

"Nah. Nearly though." He said. "Got cut off from my dad. He'll be downstairs somewhere." He ran to the edge of the roof. I followed, still brandishing my long-sword. "That's our car, down there." He pointed to a beat up pick up truck. "The bike is ours too." He said, pointing to a motorbike parked next to the car. I grimaced. This was not what I had signed up for. I nodded.

"Okay. We need ta get y' back to y' dad." I said, grabbing his arm with my free hand. "How did y'all get in here, anyway?"

"Front door, downstairs." I rolled my eyes.

"Rookie move. You don't norm'ly take apartment blocks I take it?" I asked. The kid shook his head.

"Nah. Needed medicine. Maggie 's sick." I dropped his arm.

"You have people?" I asked incredulously. He nodded.

"Yeah, there's lotsa us." I rolled my eyes again. People get you killed. I grabbed his arm again.

"I'll get ya back to ya dad." We walked back over to the skylight, where the fleshers were still looking up at us, reaching their bloodied hands up as high as they could. "How many're down there?" I asked, squinting down the skylight, trying to count.

"Dunno. Maybe ten?" He said, resting his hand on his gun. I shook my head and held out my hand.

"No. No guns, too loud, more'll come. Let me." I said, holding my sword up. I lay down on the roof again and stretched my sword down into the room below. With a few swishes, I'd killed four and sliced the arms off of at least three others. Within a few more, all of the fleshers below were dead, their sliced off parts scattered over the floor below. "Follow me." I said and leaped back down into the room.

I went from room to room to clear it, in case any fleshers snuck up behind us. It was clear. So I strode to the front door and peered out. The hallway was clear, but I could hear groaning and yelling from inside one of the apartments on the floor.

"How many of ya's are there?" I asked. The boy was standing behind me, his gun outstretched towards the open hallway.

"Two others. My dad and Daryl. They're in an apartment two doors down on the left. I ain't got more then one bullet left." He admitted, his hands were shaking.

"Don't worry. I don't need ammo." I gave my sword a flick and gave him a lopsided smirk. He almost smiled in return. "Lets go find y'ur dad."

We moved slowly towards the open door of the apartment. Two men burst out of the door suddenly, running towards us.

"Carl! Oh thank god!" One of them exclaimed. His hair was a matted mess of black curls, same as the boy's. He grabbed him around the shoulders and looked me up and down. "There's no time!" He shouted, turning around to face the way they'd just come, his gun aimed at where at least four fleshers had just rounded the corner into the hallway, and there seemed to be plenty more where they came from. The other man had light brown hair, also far too long and matted, but I didn't get a glimpse of his face. He had even run backwards down the hall towards us, his crossbow pressed against his face, focused on the fleshers on their trail.

We all started running back towards the apartment I had begun in, just fifteen minutes before.

"There a way out in there?" The fairer man asked, still running backwards, aiming his crossbow at the oncoming fleshers. I nodded.

"Yeah, a skylight. I'll go on ahead and get a couch propped up." I ran into the living room and again lined the couch up underneath so we could escape. Then I stood the boy up on it, Carl. His dad held his hand out for me to go first. I shook my head.

"You go." I said, holding out my sword towards the front door of the apartment where the fleshers were now coming through. The fairer man was now firing arrows at them. He didn't miss. All headshots. "Go!" I shouted at him. My weapon was more useful than his at close range. He went, Carl's father helping him up through the skylight. I sliced through around four of them before an arm reached down for me. I closed my eyes, kicked what I hoped was the couch over, and waited for teeth to sink through my leather-clad legs, but suddenly, the sun was in my eyes.

"Thanks." I said, standing up and brushing myself off. I picked my sword up off the roof and looked back down the skylight. There were so many fleshers down there, that I couldn't see the floor. But I had managed to knock the couch over so they definitely couldn't follow us. I looked back at the three males, all aiming their weapons at me. I held my hands up, dropping my sword to the floor. It would be no match for two guns and a crossbow.

"Woah!" I shouted. "What are y'all doin'? I just saved your lives, y'ur boy's life!" I exclaimed. Carl's father had his eyes narrowed at me.

"We can't take no risks. You been bit?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No." I answered. The fairer man stepped forward, the arrow in his crossbow pressed right up against my forehead. I could smell his sweat-soaked clothes he was standing so close.

"He said, have you been bit?" He asked in a low, dangerous voice, his teeth clenched together. I clenched my own teeth and pushed my head around his crossbow until my forehead was pushed against his,

"I said, no." I replied in as dangerous a voice I could muster. He pulled away, lowering his crossbow.

"Well alright then." He said. He walked over to the edge of the roof. "Can we get down from here?" He asked. I picked up my sword again and threaded it through the holster on my waistband.

"Yeah. There's a set of stairs over there." I pointed to the opposite edge of the building to where he was standing, obviously looking at where their car and bike were parked. "There's an alleyway downstairs that will take you back to your car and bike." I added. He stormed back over to me, crossbow brandished again. Carl's dad raised his gun to point it at me again. I again held up my hands. "What now?" I demanded, rolling my eyes.

"How did you know they were ours?" Carl's dad asked through gritted teeth.

"Y'ur boy told me, showed me." I answered. He turned to glare down at Carl, who was looking sheepish.

"She saved me dad." He admitted. "Pulled me up outta there when those walkers chased me off." His dad lowered his gun.

"How many walkers you killed?" He asked. I looked confused.

"Walkers? Who're they?" He rolled his eyes. The fairer man shook his crossbow.

"Them things that jus' tried to eat us!" He shouted. I held my hands up at him.

"Okay, calm the fuck down!" I shouted. "I have no fucking idea how many! You mean today? I think around forty today, but I got no fucking idea in total! Who the fuck counts?" I was starting to lose it.

"How many people you killed?" Carl's dad asked.

"None. Fleshers aren't people. Not anymore." He lowered his gun.

"You can come with us." I rolled me eyes.

"Who the fuck says I want to. Having people gets ya' killed!" I exclaimed. "I'll help y'all get back to your vehicles, but then I'm outta here. Y'all fucking crazy! Waving y'ur guns around like their fucking playthings. What the fuck is wrong you?" The fairer man raised his crossbow again. "You gotta problem, Robin Hood?" I spat. He smirked and lowered it again, turning away from me to face the stairs on the side of the building.

I strode over to the first set of stairs down to the alleyway, peering over the edge. There were at least twenty fleshers down there.

"We're gonna need y'ur arrows." I said to Robin Hood. He nodded, his jaw clenched.

"I only got 4 left. Lost a few down there." He stated, nodding towards the skylight. I nodded.

"No guns, any of you. They're too loud and it'll draw 'em outa the building here." I drew my sword. "I'll go ahead."

I started off down the stair, as quickly and quietly as one can in steel-capped army boots. Before I got to the bottom of the first set of stairs – there were five in total – the fleshers saw me, and started towards the building's edge. The others started down the stairs behind me.

"Stay close." I heard Robin Hood tell Carl and his dad. He was first behind me. We made it to the third run of stairs before the fleshers made it to the bottom one. We were making good speed, but it also meant that they were close. I felt arrows wiz passed my head, taking down the first three fleshers. I nodded. The rest was up to me.

I sliced through the first row of four or so fleshers with ease, but by then, the other twelve or so remaining ones were on the stairs too, right behind them. I grabbed my dagger from my thigh, pinning it through the brain of a flesher while simultaneously slashing through the brain of another. Robin Hood was behind me, armed with a dagger and trying to retrieve his arrows. He took down three with his dagger, and then fired two arrows towards fleshers at the back of the mob.

I swung up and over the banister of the second set of stairs, intending to attack the fleshers from the back of the mob, but as I landed, I felt a snap. For a moment or two, I felt okay. I even managed to take down two more fleshers with my dagger and sword in either hand. But then a blinding flash of white came, screaming started and then everything went black.


End file.
